Mike Johnson Shuts US House Early To Avoid Epstein Vote

US House Speaker Mike Johnson will send members of Congress home early to avoid a vote on releasing files relating to Jeffrey Epstein, as President Donald Trump’s allies seek to contain a spiralling crisis.

The House of Representatives is set to be in recess from Wednesday for five weeks, a day earlier than scheduled, and is not expected to return until September.

Johnson, the House’s top Republican, said on Tuesday that Democrats were playing “political games” by trying to force votes on measures that would require the US Department of Justice to release documents relating to the life and death of the disgraced financier.

He said Democrats were using the Epstein case as a “political battering ram”, adding: “We’re not going to allow them to engage in that charade anymore.”

However, several Republican House members have also called for the so-called Epstein files to be made public, with some of the loudest voices in Trump’s Maga movement demanding greater transparency.

“The public’s not going to let this die, and rightfully so,” said Ralph Norman, a Republican representative for South Carolina.

When asked whether the White House supported Johnson’s decision, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday she was “not sure if anyone here spoke to the Speaker about that”.

During his presidential campaign, Trump had vowed to release the files. But a memo published by the DoJ and FBI this month stated there was no “credible evidence” that Epstein “blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions” and that a “client list” did not exist

🔗SOURCE ➡️ Financial Times / FT [Archive]

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